Refrigerator and beam for refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator contains a storage compartment, the storage compartment has an inner wall. A first door and a second door close off the storage compartment and a beam being rotatably disposed on the first door. The beam has an accommodating space for accommodating heat-insulation material. An end portion of the beam has an air blocking member, and when the first door is closed, the air blocking member is located between the end portion and the inner wall. The air blocking member is capable of effectively preventing excessive leakage of cold air and generation of condensation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of ChinesePatent Application CN 202010384556.0, filed May 8, 2020; the priorapplication is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of therefrigerating appliance, and in particular, to a refrigerator and a beamfor the refrigerator.

Multi-door refrigerators are generally provided with a rotatable beamfor sealing on a door body to prevent leakage of cold air from a gapbetween two door bodies. However, if relatively big manufacturingtolerance or assembly tolerance occur, after two door bodies are closed,a relatively big gap can be formed between an end portion of the beamand an inner wall of a refrigerator liner. The thermal insulationproperty can be influenced, and condensation can be easily generated ata door seal in the gap, when the refrigerator is in use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One of objectives of embodiments of the present invention is to providean improved refrigerator and a beam for the refrigerator, and inparticular, to effectively improve at least one of the above technicalproblems.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides arefrigerator, including a storage compartment, the storage compartmenthaving an inner wall; a first door and a second door for closing thestorage compartment; and a beam rotatably disposed on the first door.The beam includes an accommodating space for accommodatingheat-insulation material. The beam includes an air blocking memberlocated at an end portion of the beam, and when the first door isclosed, the air blocking member is located between the end portion andthe inner wall.

The air blocking member is beneficial to reducing the flow of cold airof the storage compartment from between an end portion of the beam andthe inner wall of the storage compartment opposite to the end portion ofthe beam toward a door, and is further beneficial to reducing anexchange of heat and cold between inside and outside of the storagecompartment, and also helps to reduce possibility of condensationgeneration.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include an air blocking portion,and the air blocking portion may have at least a cavity located betweenthe end portion and the inner wall. Thermal insulation property of theair blocking member is enhanced through a space of the cavity, therebyenhancing the performance of the refrigerator.

Optionally, the cavity and the accommodating space are independent ofeach other.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include a flexible cavity wallforming the cavities. The flexible cavity wall allows the air blockingmember to deform, which helps to reduce the possibility of damage, forexample, the refrigerator door or beam cannot be closed, caused by theair blocking member interfering with the refrigerator body of therefrigerator.

Optionally, the cavity walls are made of elastic materials. This notonly helps increase a degree of deformability of the cavity walls, butalso protect the cavity walls and the refrigerator body from beingdamaged, even if the air blocking portion interferes with therefrigerator body when the refrigerator is in use.

Optionally, when the first door is closed, the cavity may be non-openalong a depth direction of the storage compartment.

Optionally, the cavity may be closed, the closed cavity has betterheat-insulation effect, and may achieve better heat-insulation effectthrough gas (e.g., air) in the cavity body.

Optionally, when the cavity is a closed cavity, the cavity may be filledwith inert gases. Optionally, the cavity may be disposed as a constantsection that extends upward along a width direction of the beam. Thishelps improve a constancy of a property of the air blocking member alongthe width direction of the beam, and this also provides a possibilitythat the air blocking portion may be mass-produced by an integralmolding process.

Optionally, when the first door is closed, ratio of width or a sum ofthe widths of the at least one cavity along the depth direction of thestorage compartment to a thickness of the beam along the depth directionof the storage compartment is not less than 1:2. This helpssignificantly improve thermal insulation property of the air blockingmember, and also helps reduce the possibility of condensation generationin the refrigerator.

Optionally, the air blocking portion may include at least two cavities.The at least two cavities are disposed front and back along the depthdirection of the storage compartment when the first door is closed. Aplurality of cavities along the depth direction of the storagecompartment reduce a heat exchange rate, which helps improve the heatinsulation effect of the air blocking portion.

Optionally, the air blocking portion include an end surface facingtoward the inner wall when the first door is closed, where the endsurface may be flat.

Optionally, the end surface of the air blocking member is parallel to asurface of the inner wall. In this way, it is beneficial to performcontrol to keep a relatively constant gap between the air blockingportion and the inner wall, and it is expected to improve the thermalinsulation property of the air blocking portion when ensuring the gapbetween the air blocking portion and the inner wall.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include at least two cavitiesand a partition wall partitioning the adjacent cavities, and at leastone end of the partition wall is connected to a cavity wall forming anouter surface of the air blocking member. The partition wall isbeneficial to stabilizing a shape of the cavity, and is beneficial to amass production of an air blocking member including a plurality ofcavities.

Optionally, a thickness of the partition wall may be set to be less thana thickness of the cavity wall forming the outer surface of the airblocking member.

Optionally, the thickness of the partition wall is not greater thantwo-thirds of the thickness of the cavity wall forming the outer surfaceof the air blocking member. Such a thickness design is beneficial toimproving a flatness of the cavity wall of the air blocking member, andis relatively conducive to the deformability of the air blockingportion.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include at least two partitionwalls, and the partition walls are disposed front and back along thedepth direction of the storage compartment and parallel to each otherwhen the first door is closed. A plurality of cavities disposed frontand back along the depth direction of the storage compartment andparallel to each other are formed through the partition walls, and it isbeneficial to reducing a heat exchange rate between the cold air in thestorage compartment and the outside, improving the heat insulationeffect of the air blocking portion.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include a rigid fixing portioncoupled to the end portion of the beam.

Optionally, the fixing portion may be formed as a part of the cavitywall of the cavity.

Optionally, the fixing portion may be plate-shaped, and/or the airblocking portion may be flat. In this way, it helps to make it possibleto still ensure the thermal insulation property of the air blockingmember in the depth direction of the storage compartment when reducing asize of the air blocking member along a length direction of the beam.

Optionally, the air blocking portion may include a neck portionextending from one side surface of the fixing portion, and a main bodyportion forming the cavity extending from the neck portion to a frontwall and/or a back wall of the beam. In this way, it helps increase asize of the air blocking member in the depth direction of the storagecompartment, thereby improving the thermal insulation property of theair blocking member.

Optionally, an end wall of the end portion may have a groove locatedoutside the accommodating space, the groove is open toward the innerwall, and the air blocking member includes a fixing portion accommodatedin the groove.

Optionally, the air blocking portion may be affixed to a bottom wall ofthe groove.

Optionally, the fixing portion may be inserted and/or affixed to an endportion of the beam. Optionally, the groove may be formed as a T-shapedcross section.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include the neck portion passingthrough the groove. Maximizing the air blocking portion helps to improvethe thermal insulation property of the air blocking member when adistance between the beam and the inner wall is limited.

Optionally, the beam may include a first housing portion and a secondhousing portion, the first housing portion and the second housingportion are connected to define the accommodating space, and at least apart of the groove is located between the first housing portion and thesecond housing portion.

Optionally, the bottom wall of the groove may be formed by only one ofthe first housing portion and the second housing portion.

Optionally, the first housing portion includes a first receiving portionand the second housing portion includes a second receiving portion. Whenthe first housing portion is connected to the second housing portion, atleast parts of the first receiving portion and the second receivingportion are overlapped to form the groove. A first gap exists betweenthe overlapped parts in a length direction of the beam, and at least apart of the fixing portions is disposed in the first gap.

Optionally, there may be a second gap between the air blocking memberand the inner wall. This helps to prevent or reduce the interference ofthe beam with the refrigerator body when the refrigerator is in use.

Optionally, the second gap is not less than 1 mm. In addition, it isconducive to safeguard the heat-insulation effect of the air blockingmember, and the second gap is preferably not greater than 5 mm. Forexample, the second gap is between 2 mm and 3 mm.

Optionally, a side of the fixing portion away from the air blockingportion may be affixed to a part of the beam.

Optionally, the fixing portion may be provided with a plugging portionwith an inclined outer surface, the plugging portion is inserted to thegroove, and the inner wall of the groove is provided with an inner wallsurface that is fit to the outer surface in an inclining manner. Thisfacilitates an installation of the fixing portion.

Optionally, the fixing portion and the air blocking portion may be madeof different materials.

Optionally, the fixing portion and the air blocking portion may beintegrally formed, for example, a soft and rigid co-extrusion integralmolding process.

Optionally, the refrigerator further includes a guiding member, theguiding member guiding the beam to flip over when the first door isopened or closed.

Optionally, the beam may further include a front panel, the air blockingmember and the front panel being coupled to the beam in a non-contactingmanner. This helps to reduce the air blocking member to exchange heatwith the front panel or heating components in the front panel.

Optionally, one end of the air blocking portion near the front wall ofthe beam does not extend beyond the front wall to prevent the beam frominterfering with a side surface of the door body when the beam rotates.

Another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention relates to abeam for a refrigerator. The beam may be rotatably coupled to a door ofthe refrigerator, and is characterized in that the beam includes: ahousing, the housing including an accommodating space for accommodatingheat-insulation material, and an air blocking member attached to an endportion of the housing.

In this way, the flow of the cold air in the storage compartment frombetween the beam and an inner wall of the storage compartment toward arefrigerator door and a heat-exchange with the outside may be reduced,thereby reducing the possibility of condensation generation in therefrigerator.

Optionally, the air blocking member includes an air blocking portion,the air blocking portion has at least a cavity located between an endportion and the inner wall, and the cavity and the accommodating spaceare independent of each other.

Optionally, the air blocking member may include a fixing portionattached to the housing and a flexible air blocking portion locatedoutside the housing.

Optionally, the end portion of the housing may have a groove locatedoutside the accommodating space, the groove being open toward the innerwall of the refrigerator, and the air blocking member including a fixingportion accommodated in the groove.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin a refrigerator and a beam for the refrigerator, it is neverthelessnot intended to be limited to the details shown, since variousmodifications and structural changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and within the scope andrange of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be bestunderstood from the following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of an embodimentalong the line II-II shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air blocking memberaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the air blocking memberaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial three-dimensional view of a beam according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded, perspective view of the beam shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of another embodimentalong the line II shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To make the above objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention easier to understood, specific embodiments of the presentinvention will be explained in detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, but not used to limit the scope of the presentinvention.

Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first,particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown in a firstembodiment, a refrigerator 100 includes a refrigerator body 101 having astorage compartment 102. The storage compartment 102 has an inner wall103.

The refrigerator 100 includes a first door 107 and a second door 108 forclosing the storage compartment 102.

A rotable beam 105 is disposed between the first door 107 and the seconddoor 108 that are used for closing the storage compartment 102. When thefirst door 107 and the second door 108 are closed, the beam 105 isconcatenated to sealing strips 112 of the first door 107 and the seconddoor 108, and a gap between the first door 107 and the second door 108is sealed.

The beam 105 may be rotatably attached to the first door 107. When thefirst door 107 is opened from a closed position or closed from an openposition, the beam 105 rotates relative to the first door 107 by aguiding mechanism 106 between the beam 105 and the refrigerator body101.

Optionally, the guiding mechanism 106 may include a guiding memberlocated at one end of the beam 105 and a matching guiding portionlocated in the refrigerator body 101. The matching guiding portion maybe located on an inner wall opposite to the other end of the beam.

The beam 105 may include a housing 300, the housing 300 including anaccommodating space 109 for accommodating heat-insulation material 110.

The beam 105 may include an air blocking member 201 a located on an endportion 111. When the first door is closed, the air blocking member 201a is located between the end portion 111 and the inner wall 103 of thebeam 105.

In a state of use, the air blocking member 201 a may reduce a flow ofcold air in the storage compartment 102 from between the end portion 111of the beam 105 and the inner wall 103 opposite the end portion 111toward the doors 107, 108 of the refrigerator 100, thereby reducing theheat exchange of cold air with outside. This also helps to reduce thepossibility of condensation generation.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air blocking memberaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2and FIG. 3, the air blocking member 201 a includes an air blockingportion 206 a, and the air blocking portion 206 a may include a cavity202 a. When the first door 107 is closed, the cavity 202 a is locatedbetween the end portion 111 and the inner wall 103 of the beam 105. Inthis way, it is conducive to improve the thermal insulation property ofthe air blocking member 201 a, and further reduce the heat exchangebetween the storage compartment 102 and the outside.

The air blocking portion 206 a includes a cavity wall 203 a that formsthe cavity. In an embodiment of the present invention, the cavity wall203 a can be flexible. In this way, when a door body sinks beyond adesign value, it is conducive for the flexible cavity wall 203 a to becapable of deforming under an action of a very small force, therebyreducing the possibility of the air blocking portion 206 a interferingwith the refrigerator body and damaging. Preferably, the cavity wall 203a is made of an elastic material.

When the first door 107 is closed, a second gap n may exist between theair blocking member 201 a and the inner wall 103. Therefore, the airblocking member 201 a does not interfere with the refrigerator body 101,and the air blocking member 201 a may have a greater design space forimproving the thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201a.

An end surface 205 a of the air blocking portion 206 a may be a plane.

At least a part of the cavity 202 a is located outside the accommodatingspace 109. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the cavity 202 a iscompletely located outside the accommodating space 109.

The cavity 202 a and the accommodating space 109 may be independent ofeach other and do not communicate with each other. In this way, noimpact is caused.

At least a part of the air blocking member 201 a may adhere to the endportion 111 of the beam 105. A width of the cavity wall at the adhesionpart may be greater than widths of the cavity wall of other parts.Certainly, the method that the air blocking member 201 a and the beam105 are fixed is not limited to adhesion.

FIG. 4 is a structural cross-sectional view of an air blocking memberaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 4, the air blocking member 201 b includes an air blocking portion206 b and a fixing portion 207 b. The air blocking member is fixedlyconnected to the end portion 111 of the beam 105 through the fixingportion 207 b.

The air blocking portion 206 b includes a cavity 202 b. The cavity 202 bis formed by a cavity wall 203 b extending from a side surface of thefixing portion 207 b. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, thecross-section of the cavity 202 b is bowl-shaped, and the fixing portion207 b is plate-shaped.

When the first door 107 is closed, ratio of width or a sum of the widthsof the cavity 202 b of the air blocking member 201 b along a depthdirection D of the storage compartment 102 to a thickness of the beamalong the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 is greaterthan 1:2. This helps significantly improve thermal insulation propertyof the air blocking member 201 b, and also helps reduce the possibilityof condensation generation in the refrigerator 100.

The fixing portion 207 b includes a plugging portion 210 b. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 4, the plugging portion 210 b may protrudetoward a front wall 312 or/and a back wall 311 of the beam relative tothe air blocking portion 206 b.

Certainly, a structure of the plugging portion 210 b is not only limitedto as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, and may also be formed byprotruding from a side of the fixing portion 207 b away from the airblocking portion 206 b.

The plugging portion 210 b may be provided with an inclined surface 211b toward the air blocking portion. The inclined surface 211 bfacilitates the quick installation of the air blocking member 201 b, anda combination of the plugging structure with limits (referring to FIG.7) allows the air blocking member 201 b to be attached to the endportion 111 of the beam 105 in a more reliable manner.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial three-dimensional diagram of a beam for arefrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention.As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the end portion of the beam 105 is providedwith an air blocking member 201 c, and the air blocking member 201 cincludes an air blocking portion 206 c and a rigid fixing portion 207 c.

The air blocking member 201 c may have the air blocking portion 206 c,and the air blocking portion 206 c may include a plurality of cavities202 c. The plurality of cavities 202 c may be disposed front and backalong a depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 when the firstdoor 107 is closed. The plurality of cavities 202 c disposed along thedepth direction D of the storage compartment 102 reduces the rate ofheat exchange between the cold air inside the storage compartment 102and the outside, thereby improving the thermal insulation property ofthe air blocking portion 206 c.

When the first door 107 is closed, ratio of widths or a sum of thewidths of the cavity 202 c of the air blocking member 201 c along thedepth direction D of the storage compartment 102 to a thickness of thebeam 105 along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 maybe greater than 1:2. This helps significantly improve thermal insulationproperty of the air blocking member 201 c, and also helps reduce thepossibility of condensation generation in the refrigerator 100.

The air blocking portion 206 c includes a plurality of partition walls204 c partitioning the adjacent cavities 202 c. At least an end of thepartition wall 204 c is connected to a cavity wall 203 c forming the airblocking portion 206 c. On the one hand, the air blocking portion 206 cis separated into a plurality of cavities 202 c that are not connectedin the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 by the partitionwall 204 c. On the other hand, the partition wall 204 c facilitatesmaintaining a shape stability of the cavities 202 c.

The plurality of partition walls 204 c may extend along the widthdirection of the beam 105 and may have constant sections. This helpsimprove a constancy of a property of the air blocking member along thewidth direction of the beam, and this also provides a possibility thatit is conducive for the partition walls 204 c of the air blocking member201 c and the cavity walls 203 c to be mass-produced by an integralmolding process.

The plurality of partition walls 204 c may be disposed front and backalong the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 when thefirst door 107 is closed. The plurality of partition walls 204 c formthe plurality of cavities 202 c that are disposed front and back alongthe depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 and parallel toeach other, which helps to reduce the rate of heat exchange and improvethe heat-insulation effect of the air blocking portion 206 c.

A thickness of the partition wall 204 c may be less than a thickness ofthe cavity wall 203 c forming an outer surface of the air blockingportion 206 c. Preferably, ratio of the two is not greater than twothirds. Such a thickness design helps to improve a flatness of thecavity wall 203 c of the air blocking member 201 c, and is relativelyconducive to the deformability of the air blocking portion 206 c. Thefixing portion 207 c may form a part of the cavity wall of the cavity202 c. That the fixing portion 207 c forms a part of the cavity wall 203c of the cavity 202 c helps reduce an overall thickness of the airblocking member 201 c.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the fixing portion 207 c isplate-shaped, and the air blocking portion 206 c is flat. A plate-shapedstructure of the fixing portion 207 c and a flat structure of the airblocking portion 206 c help make it possible to still ensure the thermalinsulation property of the air blocking member 201 c in the depthdirection D of the storage compartment 102 while reducing the overallthickness of the air blocking member 201 c.

The air blocking portion 206 c may include a neck portion 208 cextending from one side surface of the rigid fixing portion 207 c, and amain body portion 209 c forming the cavity 202 c extending from the neckportion 208 c toward a front wall 312 and a back wall 311 of the beam105. This is conducive to maximize a height of the cavity 202 c of theair blocking portion 206 c, thereby improving the heat-insulation effectof the air blocking portion 206 c.

The beam 105 may include a first housing portion 303 and a secondhousing portion 301, and the first housing portion 303 is connected tothe second housing portion 301 to form an accommodating space 109 foraccommodating heat-insulation material 110.

An end wall of the end portion 111 of the beam 105 may be provided witha groove 302 located outside the accommodating space 109, the groove 302is open toward the inner wall 103, and at least a part of the fixingportion 207 c may be accommodated in the groove 302. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 7, the fixing portion 207 c is completely accommodated inthe groove 302.

The first housing portion 303 may include a first receiving portion 305,and the second housing portion 301 includes a second receiving portion304. When the first housing portion 303 is connected to the secondhousing portion 301, the first receiving portion 305 and the secondreceiving portion 304 are overlapped to form the groove 302, a first gapa exists between the overlapped parts in a length direction of the beam,and a plugging portion 210 c of the fixing portions 207 c is disposed inthe first gap a. Such a groove limiting structure helps to simplify aninstallation process of the air blocking member.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the first receiving portion 305 maybe used as a forming part of the accommodating space 109. In this way,when the first receiving portion 305 is capable of supporting theheat-insulation material 110, it is conducive that the cavity 202 c ofthe air blocking member 201 c and the accommodating space 109 may beindependent of each other and do not communicate with each other,thereby not interfering with each other.

The groove 302 may have a T-shaped cross-section, and the neck portion208 c passes through an opening of the groove 302. The neck portion 208c is adapted to a shape of the opening of the groove 302, therebyhelping reduce an overall thickness of the air blocking member 201 c.

An end of the air blocking portion 206 c near the front wall 312 of thebeam preferably does not extend beyond the front wall 312 to prevent thebeam 105 from interfering with a side surface of the door body when thebeam 105 rotates.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, when the first door 107 is closed,the cavity 202 c of the air blocking portion 206 c is non-open along thedepth direction D of the storage compartment 102, which helps reduce theheat exchange rate on the depth direction D of the storage compartment102.

At the same time, the cavity 202 c of the air blocking portion 206 c isopen in the width direction along the beam 105. In this way, it makes amolding process of the air blocking member 201 c relatively simple and acost relatively low.

However, in other embodiments of the present invention, the cavity 202 aof the air blocking member 201 a may be closed, and the closed cavity202 a is beneficial for improving the thermal insulation property of theair blocking member 201 a. Furthermore, the closed cavity 201 a may befilled with inert gases. In this way, the thermal insulation property ofthe air blocking member 202 a is further improved.

In the embodiment in FIG. 7, when the first door 107 is closed, a secondgap n exists between an end surface 205 c of the air blocking member 201c facing the inner wall 103 of the storage compartment 102 and the innerwall 103 of the storage compartment 102. This helps to prevent or reducethe interference of the beam with the refrigerator body when therefrigerator is in use.

Preferably, the second gap is not less than 1 mm. In addition, it isconducive to safeguard the heat-insulation effect of the air blockingmember, and the second gap is preferably not greater than 5 mm.

A front panel 306 is disposed at the front wall 312 of the beam 105. Aninner side of the front panel 306 may be provided with a heating member307 to prevent condensation. The air blocking member 201 c and the frontpanel 306 are coupled to the beam 105 in a non-contact manner, therebyfacilitating a prevention of heat exchange between the air blockingmember 201 c and the front panel 306 or the heating member 307 in thefront panel 306.

The air blocking member 201 a, 201 b, or 201 c may be mass-produced byan integral molding process. The fixing portions 207 b and 207 c of theair blocking member 201 b or 201 c may be of different materials thanthe air blocking portion 206 b or 206 c. For example, the fixing portion207 or 207 c is made of ABS plastic and the air blocking portion 206 bor 206 c is made of rubber. In this case, soft and rigid co-extrusionmolding process may be applied to mass produce.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, installation steps of theair blocking member 201 c may include:

connecting the air blocking member 201 c to the first housing portion303; and

connecting the first housing portion 303 to the second housing portion301.

In step 1, the connecting the air blocking member 201 c to the firsthousing portion 303 may include adhering the air blocking member 201 cto the first housing portion 303.

In step 1, the connecting the air blocking member 201 c to the firsthousing portion 303 may include inserting a part (e.g., the pluggingportion 210 c) of the fixing portion 207 c of the air blocking member201 c to the first receiving portion 305 located in the first housingportion.

In step 2, the connecting the first housing portion 303 to the secondhousing portion 301 may include covering another part of the fixingportion 207 c of the air blocking member 201 c by using a part of thefirst housing portion 303.

In an embodiment, the air blocking member 201 c is connected to thefirst housing portion 303 to form a pre-assembled member to participatein assembling the beam. In other words, the step of connecting the airblocking member 201 c to the first housing portion 303 precedes the stepof matching an insulation material with the first housing portion 303.

At this point, it should be recognized by those skilled in the art that,although a plurality of exemplary embodiments of the present inventionhave been exhaustively shown and described herein, many other variationsor modifications consistent with the principles of the present inventioncan still be directly determined or deduced from the disclosure of thepresent invention without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention shouldbe understood and held to cover all such other variations ormodifications.

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a storage compartment having an innerwall; a first door and a second door for closing said storagecompartment; heat-insulation material; and a beam rotatably disposed onsaid first door and having an end portion, said beam containing anaccommodating space accommodating said heat-insulation material, saidbeam having an air blocking member disposed at said end portion of saidbeam, and when said first door is closed, said air blocking member isdisposed between said end portion and said inner wall.
 2. Therefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said air blocking member hasan air blocking portion, said air blocking portion having at least onecavity disposed between said end portion and said inner wall.
 3. Therefrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said air blocking member hasa flexible cavity wall forming said at least one cavity.
 4. Therefrigerator according to claim 2, wherein when said first door isclosed, a ratio of a width or a sum of widths of said at least onecavity along a depth direction of said storage compartment to athickness of said beam along the depth direction of said storagecompartment is not less than 1:2.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim2, wherein said air blocking member has at least two cavities, said atleast two cavities being disposed front and back along a depth directionof said storage compartment when said first door is closed.
 6. Therefrigerator according to claim 2, wherein: said air blocking member hasa cavity wall forming an outer surface of said air blocking member; andsaid air blocking member has at least two cavities and a partition wallpartitioning said at least two cavities being adjacent cavities, atleast one end of said partition wall being connected to said cavity wallforming said outer surface of said air blocking member.
 7. Therefrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said air blocking memberfurther comprises a rigid fixing portion coupled to said end portion ofsaid beam.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein said rigidfixing portion is plate-shaped, and/or said air blocking portion isflat.
 9. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein said airblocking portion has a neck portion extending from one side surface ofsaid rigid fixing portion, and a main body portion forming said at leastone cavity and extending from said neck portion to a front wall and/or aback wall of said beam.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 1,wherein said end portion has an end wall with a groove formed thereinand disposed outside said accommodating space, said groove being opentoward said inner wall, and said air blocking member having a fixingportion accommodated in said groove.
 11. The refrigerator according toclaim 10, wherein said groove has a T-shaped cross-section, and said airblocking member has a neck portion passing through an opening of saidgroove.
 12. The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein said beamhas a first housing portion and a second housing portion, said firsthousing portion and said second housing portion being connected todefine said accommodating space, and at least a part of said groovebeing disposed between said first housing portion and said secondhousing portion.
 13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein:said first housing portion has a first receiving portion; and saidsecond housing portion has a second receiving portion; and when saidfirst housing portion is connected to said second housing portion, atleast parts of said first receiving portion and said second receivingportion are overlapped to define said groove, and a first gap existsbetween overlapped parts in a length direction of said beam, and atleast a part of said fixing portion is disposed in said first gap. 14.The refrigerator according to claim 13, wherein there is a second gapbetween said air blocking member and said inner wall.
 15. Therefrigerator according to claim 14, wherein said second gap is not lessthan 1 mm and not greater than 5 mm.
 16. A beam for a refrigerator, thebeam being rotatably coupled to a door of the refrigerator, the beamcomprising: heat insulation material; a housing having an end portionand an accommodating space for accommodating said heat-insulationmaterial; and an air blocking member attached to said end portion ofsaid housing.
 17. The beam according to claim 16, wherein said airblocking member has an air blocking portion, said air blocking portionhaving at least one cavity disposed outside said accommodating space.18. The beam according to claim 16, wherein said air blocking member hasfixing portions attached to said housing and a flexible air blockingportion disposed outside said housing.
 19. The beam according to claim18, wherein said end portion of said housing has a groove formed thereinand disposed outside said accommodating space, and said air blockingmember has at least one of said fixing portions accommodated in saidgroove.